Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru have continued with their dominance in IPL 2026, but they are going to face a strong challenge when they meet Rajasthan Royals, who are probably playing the best cricket this season.
RCB are powered by the consistency of Virat Kohli, the flair of Devdutt Padikkal and the power of Tim David. But it is not the batters who are under pressure, it is their bowlers who are at risk of being mauled on Friday.
Why? Beacuse the Royals have the most destructive opening pair of this IPL in Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal. More importantly, the two are in dazzling form. If the two, or even one of them, get going, it is very difficult for any bowling attack to regain control of the game.
So Jacob Duffy and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will have to be at their best when they share the new ball. To their credit, the RCB bowlers have looked good so far, with Abhinandan Singh, Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma also being disciplined in their job.
The Royals, too, have an imprssive bowling attack, with Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger leading their attack, and Tushar Deshpande and Sandeep Sharma complementing well.
In a nutshell then, expect fireworks when the two unbeaten teams fight for supremacy.